Chapter 84: Bug (2)

I summoned Plli and climbed onto his back.

By now, I was faster than he was, but I wanted to conserve as much stamina as possible before confronting the boss.

“Let’s go, Plli.”

It was time to find the newly appeared boss.

I used the same search pattern as I had in Zone 3.

Starting from the inner boundary of Zone 4, I would circle clockwise in gradually widening loops.

Plli raced across the snowfield with me on his back.

Then—

Whoooooosh...

A faint sound reached me through the howling wind.

I raised my head.

How could I describe it?

It sounded like something enormous flying through the air.

I searched the sky for its source.

Then—

“...!”

I saw it.

A colossal silhouette was approaching from the far side of the sky.

What... was that?

A monster with several heads, resembling a hydra, was flying toward me at tremendous speed.

I had never encountered anything like it in Zone 4.

It was also overwhelmingly large—even bigger than the Zone 3 boss, the Wyvern.

There was no possibility that something of that size was an ordinary monster.

Which meant it could only be one thing.

‘The boss.’

...What was this, some kind of delivery service?

I hadn’t expected the boss to come looking for me first.

It certainly saved me the trouble of searching, but there was one problem.

I hadn’t activated the Warp Device yet.

[9:59]

I hurriedly activated the device I had charged in advance.

The Zone 4 boss was already nearly upon me.

Sixth Sense confirmed what I had suspected.

It was a powerful enemy.

However, I didn’t feel the warning that engaging it would be a mistake.

Whoosh!

And then—

“...Huh?”

I had assumed it was charging directly at me.

Instead, the boss flew straight past and disappeared toward the opposite horizon.

What the hell?

Where was it going?

My tension gave way to bewilderment as I watched it retreat into the distance.

Still, I immediately gave chase.

Plli sprinted at full speed as I pursued the flying boss.

I could barely keep it within sight.

After some time, the creature finally descended.

I slowed Plli as well.

The boss landed in the middle of the frozen plain, and I approached cautiously.

It was a beast with nine serpentine heads, its entire body seemingly formed from ice.

But something felt wrong.

Unlike the Zone 3 boss, which had attacked me the moment it noticed my presence, the Zone 4 boss showed no interest in me at all.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

Whether I approached or not, it continued clawing furiously at the frozen ground with its forelimbs.

It looked almost like a giant mole digging a burrow.

...What was it doing?

[6:01]

I checked the Warp Device’s timer.

It still needed more time to activate fully, so for the moment, I observed the boss’s strange behavior.

Before long, it had excavated a large pit.

Then it lowered its body into the hollow.

The sight was strangely familiar.

It looked like a bird settling over its eggs in a nest.

Three minutes remained on the Warp Device.

Well...

I should probably begin the fight soon.

I dismissed Plli and approached the boss on foot.

Only then did the creature turn its heads toward me.

Kyaaaaaaa!

A savage roar tore across the frozen plain.

Looks like it’s finally ready to fight.

I stopped time and considered my opening move.

Naturally, I intended to begin with Destruction Ray.

But—

‘...Where should I aim?’

The most obvious weak point on any living creature was the head.

That was why the Zone 3 boss had died instantly when I destroyed its head.

This creature, however, had nine of them.

I could probably align several heads and hit them with a single shot, but destroying all nine at once would be impossible.

...Would it be better to target the center of its torso instead?

I considered which option was more likely to prove lethal and ultimately chose the torso.

After completing Mental Concentration, I allowed time to resume.

Then I fired a fully charged Destruction Ray.

The pitch-black beam tore straight through the center of the boss’s body.

Even the defenses of a level 80 boss were meaningless before Destruction Ray’s destructive force.

But—

“...!”

The gaping hole in its torso began to freeze over.

Within moments, the wound had almost completely closed.

What the hell...?

Did it possess regeneration too, like the Floor 3 boss?

Apparently, targeting the torso had been the wrong choice.

Having shrugged off the devastating wound from Destruction Ray, the boss launched its counterattack.

One of its heads twisted toward me and opened its jaws.

Sixth Sense immediately sounded the alarm.

Roooaaaar!

A torrent of blue energy struck the place where I had been standing.

I had already thrown myself sideways.

It appeared to be some kind of ice breath.

The ground froze solid beneath the attack, and a wave of bitter cold rolled across the plain, reaching even the place where I landed.

The remaining heads followed my movement.

Hold on.

Pause.

I stopped time again.

Let me think.

I had confirmed that the Zone 4 boss possessed regenerative abilities.

Its regeneration was even faster than that of the Floor 3 boss.

Almost instantaneous.

‘Does this one have a core too?’

I had pierced the center of its torso, yet the wound had regenerated immediately.

That meant the core probably wasn’t located there.

No.

I couldn’t even assume it possessed a core in the first place.

Still, it had to have some kind of vital point.

If it could instantly recover from Destruction Ray and possessed no weakness whatsoever, it would effectively be immortal.

That couldn’t be how the fight was designed.

I reached a decision.

‘I’ll try the heads.’

There was no other obvious option.

If the heads regenerated as well...

Then I might have no choice but to flee.

I completed Mental Concentration and released time.

Then I cast Flame Strike.

Several fireballs shot toward the boss’s heads.

Boom!

Explosions engulfed them.

The heads had clearly taken damage.

And—

‘...They aren’t regenerating!’

The wounds on the heads remained.

So the heads truly were the weak point.

At that moment, another head turned toward me and opened its mouth.

I threw myself aside once more.

With Sixth Sense warning me before each attack, avoiding the breath was not particularly difficult.

Good.

This would be my strategy.

I kept my distance and dodged the boss’s attacks while firing my magic skills whenever their cooldowns ended.

I also activated Scorching Zone.

The boss showed no intention of leaving the pit.

It simply remained where it was, repeatedly firing breath attacks.

So I answered with ranged attacks of my own.

The difference was that I avoided everything it fired, while the boss absorbed every attack I launched.

I could have inflicted more damage at close range, but there was no reason to take the risk of engaging in melee.

I also kept Diul’s Pitch-Black Fog in reserve because its duration was limited.

I continued circling the boss while bombarding its heads with magic.

Crack!

At last, one of the heads reached its limit.

It split apart and fell from the body.

Kraaaaaaa!

Naturally, the boss continued moving without difficulty.

It seemed I would have to destroy all nine heads.

At this rate, however, the others would soon follow.

[0:09]

The Warp Device’s timer had run out, so I cancelled its activation.

There was no reason to rush.

I continued inflicting damage in the same cautious manner.

Kaboom!

Another head was destroyed by Flame Strike.

When Destruction Ray came off cooldown, I fired again and eliminated three heads at once.

As the number of heads decreased, the boss’s regeneration appeared to weaken.

The body beneath the necks was now recovering more slowly from the continuous damage inflicted by Scorching Zone.

I destroyed another head with Lightning Strike.

Only three remained.

Then it happened.

Flap!

The boss suddenly hauled itself upright and spread its wings.

A blast of freezing wind erupted around it, forcing me back a step.

The creature lifted slightly from the ground as though preparing to take flight.

Huh?

Was it trying to escape?

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

There was no chance I would allow that.

I used Leap to close the distance.

Then I summoned Diul and immediately activated Pitch-Black Fog.

Hsssssss...

Darkness spread in every direction.

The boss was engulfed by the fog before it could rise into the sky.

Its body lurched unsteadily before crashing back to the ground.

With all its senses severed, there was no way it could fly.

Kyaaaaaaa!

The boss thrashed wildly across the frozen ground.

Its remaining heads unleashed breath attacks in every direction.

But it hadn’t been able to hit me even when it could see.

Blinded, its attacks had even less chance of reaching me.

I moved deep into the Pitch-Black Fog and approached the boss.

Then I activated Sword of Light.

Once the fog disappeared, the boss would attempt to flee again.

I needed to destroy the remaining heads before that happened.

I avoided its blind, frantic movements and concentrated my attacks on a single head.

The three surviving heads had already suffered considerable damage, so the first one came off quickly.

The next was destroyed by a Flame Strike whose cooldown had just ended.

Thunk!

I closed in on the final head and drove the Sword of Light deep into it.

“Off you go.”

I dispelled Pitch-Black Fog and leaped backward.

Kaboom!

The Sword of Light detonated.

The boss’s final head vanished in the explosion.

[The Zone 4 boss has been defeated.]

[You have obtained the Zone 4 boss defeat reward.]

[You have obtained the Zone 4 boss first-clear reward.]

The messages appeared one after another.

“Phew.”

Clear successful.

I would call that a relatively smooth victory.

Still, compared with the Zone 3 boss, this one had at least put up a proper fight.

A short while later, the Zone 4 boss’s corpse vanished.

Perhaps because it had spent the battle spraying ice breath in every direction, the surrounding air felt noticeably colder than before.

I turned to leave.

“...”

Then my gaze drifted toward the pit.

Come to think of it...

Why had the creature dug the pit in the first place?

It had refused to move from that position for the entire fight.

Well, except at the end, when it had attempted to escape.

I approached the pit and looked down.

“...?”

Something was sparkling at its center.

An ice crystal?

A gemstone?

It resembled something of that sort.

I climbed into the pit.

Hmm...

What was this?

‘A reward?’

Weren’t boss rewards supposed to be distributed in the Reward Room?

I cautiously reached toward the gemstone.

Sixth Sense gave me no warning.

So I picked it up.

[Item: Heart of the Frigid Demon King]

The heart of the Frigid Demon King, who froze the world.

The information appeared before me.

‘...It really is an item?’

The Heart of the Frigid Demon King?

However, there was no further description.

I tilted my head and examined the item more closely.

Then—

[Item: Heart of the Frig#$■◇Demon^#◇%]

The description suddenly distorted.

Static-like interference spread across the display, and the letters shattered into corrupted symbols.

W-what?

I froze in confusion.

I had never seen anything like it before.

Then—

“...!”

A violent chill passed through my body.

It felt as though the cold were seeping directly into my mind.

The gemstone slipped from my fingers.

My mouth opened on its own.

Although I had made no attempt to speak, wild laughter burst from my throat.

“Kuhahahahahaha!”

...Huh?

My body wouldn’t respond.

Something else had taken control of it.

It felt as though my soul had been forced into the back of my own mind.

“Good! Very good! At last, I am free!”

My arm swung outward.

Kabooooom!

A colossal wave of cold erupted from my body.

The entire surrounding area froze solid in an instant.

What the hell was happening?

I had no idea.

But one thing was obvious.

Some lunatic had stolen my body.

‘Hey! Hey! What the hell are you?’

I shouted inside my mind.

The being responded.

“Cease thy incessant chattering, Lesser Being.”

...Lesser Being?

Me?

It repeatedly clenched and opened my hand while muttering to itself.

“A pitiful husk of flesh, yet I suppose it shall suffice. I shall put thy body to proper use.”

What the hell was this guy talking about?

Boom!

It launched itself high into the air and shot across the sky.

Then it stopped dead.

Because I had stopped time.

Ah.

So that still worked.

I had lost control of my body, but I could still stop time.

—...What? What is this?

A bewildered voice echoed inside my mind.

It sounded like some old man.

Oh?

Time had stopped, yet this thing could still speak.

Was it because it had entered my mind?

—Didst thou stop time?

It sounded genuinely shaken.

I answered.

‘Give me back my body. What did you do to me?’

—Is this thy doing? What manner of power hast thou invoked?

‘Isn’t it obvious? I stopped time.’

—No, that is not what I ask! How in the world... What manner of absurdity is this?

Apparently, the confusion was mutual.

I had defeated the boss without much difficulty.

So how had the situation turned into this ridiculous spectacle?

I spoke again.

‘Just give me my body back.’

—Speak not such foolishness. Thy flesh now belongs to me.

‘According to who? Give it back.’

—It is thou who must release this power at once!

Ha.

Who the hell was this asshole?

‘Then stay frozen like this. See if I care.’

There was no chance I would allow someone to steal my body.

With time still stopped, I listened as the old man’s voice continued ranting noisily inside my head.